Learning Chapters on Project Procurement Management Essay Example

Learning Chapters on Project Procurement Management Paper After reading this chapter, you will b understand the Importance of prop Increasing use of outsourcing for info Describe the work involved in planning determining the proper type of contract t management plan, statement of work, so buy analysis Discuss what is involved in conducting obtaining seller responses, selects Understand the process of admit meet relationships and monitor Describe the process of closing Discuss types of software avail management Marie McBride could not believe how much money her company was paying for outside consultants to help the company finish an important operating system conversion project. The consulting companys proposal said it would provide experienced professionals who had completed similar conversions, and that the Job would be finished in six months or less with four consultants working full time. Nine months later her company was still paying high consulting fees, and half of the original consultants on the project had been replaced with new people. One new consultant had graduated from college only two months before and had extremely poor communications skills. Marries internal staff complained that they were wasting time training some of these experienced professionals. Marie talked to her companys purchasing manager about the contract, fees, and special clauses that might be relevant to the problems they were experiencing. Marie was dismayed at how difficult it was to interpret the contract. It was very long and obviously written by someone with a legal background. We will write a custom essay sample on Learning Chapters on Project Procurement Management specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Learning Chapters on Project Procurement Management specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Learning Chapters on Project Procurement Management specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer When she asked what her company could do since the consulting firm was not following Its proposal, the purchasing manager stated that the proposal was not part of the official contract. Marries company was paying for time and materials, not specific deliverables. There was no clause stating the minimum experience level required for the consultants, nor were there penalty clauses for not completing the work on time. There was a termination clause, however, meaning the company could terminate the contract. Marble wondered why her company had signed such a poor contract. Was there a better way to deal with procuring services from outside the company? Although global outsourcing displaces some IT workers, total employment In the united States increases, according to IOTA, as the benefits ripple through the economy. I en Incremental economic actual TTY Tanat Tools outscore II outsourcing creates over 257,000 net new Jobs in 2005 and is expected to create over 337,000 net new Jobs by 462 P oliticians debate on whether offshore outsourcing helps their own country or not. Andy Boor, chief operating officer of a computer network support service provider, describes outsourcing as an essential part of a healthy business diet. He describes good vs.. Bad outsourcing as something like good vs.. Bad cholesterol. He says that most people view offshore outsourcing as being bad because it takes Jobs away from domestic workers. However, many companies are realizing that they can use offshore outsourcing and create more Jobs at home. For example, Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines created 1,000 call-center Jobs in India in 2003, saving $25 million, which enabled it to add 1,200 Job positions for reservations and sales agents in the United States. 2 Other companies, like Wall-Mart, successfully manage the majority of their information technology projects in-house with very little commercial software and no outsourcing at all. (See the Suggested Reading on the companion Web site on Wall- Marts Way. ) Deciding whether to outsource, what to outsource, and how to outsource are important topics for many organizations throughout the world. In a 2008 survey, 74 percent of 600 global procurement executives believed that procurement issues are a high priority for their companies. About half of respondents also said that their companies focus too much on cost reduction instead of value creation. They also believe they are missing opportunities by not focusing on using technology to improve procurement processes. For example, 72 percent of respondents have less than 10 percent of their spend channeled through procurement and sourcing applications. 3 Most organizations use some form of outsourcing to meet their information technology needs, spending most money within their own country. A 2008 report on IT outsourcing trends in the U. S. And Canada revealed the following: Application development is the most popular form of IT outsourcing and was used by 53 percent of organizations surveyed. Of the surveyed organizations, 44 percent outsourced application maintenance, 40 percent outsourced Web site or e-commerce systems, and 37 percent outsourced disaster recovery services. The IT function with the largest percentage of work outsourced is assister recovery services, accounting for 50 percent of total IT outsourcing. Mortifications see the benefit in having an outside party perform offset storage or maintenance of a recovery facility. Desktop support is the second most outsourced IT function (48 percent), followed closely by data center operations and help desk (47 percent each) and Web site or e-commerce systems (46 percent). IT security is at the bottom of the list, with only 29 percent of the work being outsourced. Even though application development and maintenance are frequently outsourced, they are a low percentage of the amount of total IT work outsourced. Application development and maintenance are often outsourced selectively since most organizations choose to do many projects in-house. 4 Procurement means acquiring goods and/or services from an outside source. The term procurement is Widely used in government; many private companies use the terms purchasing and outsourcing. Organizations or individuals who provide procurement services are referred to as suppliers, vendors, contractors, subcontractors, or sellers, with suppliers being the most widely used term. Many information technology projects involve the use of goods and services from outside he organization. As described in Chapter 2, outsourcing has become a hot topic for research and debate, especially the implication of outsourcing to other countries, referred to as offspring. The outsourcing statistics below are from an Information Technology Association of America (IOTA)-sponsored report: Spending for global sources of computer software and services is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of about 20 percent, increasing from about $1 5 billion in 2005 to $38 billion in 2010. Total savings from offshore resources diddling the same time period are estimated to grow from $8. Billion to $20. 4 billion. The cost savings and use of offshore resources lower inflation, increase productivity, and lower interest rates, which boosts business and consumer spending and increases economic activity. Chapter 12 Project Procurement Management Because outsourcing is a growing area, it is important for project managers to understand project procurement management. Many organizations are turning to outsourcing to: Reduce betrothed and recurrent costs. Outsourcing suppliers are often able to use economies of scale that may not be available to the client alone, especially for hardware and software. It can also be less expensive to outsource some labor costs to other organizations in the same country or offshore. Companies can also use outsourcing to reduce labor costs on projects by avoiding the costs of hiring, firing, and reassigning people to projects or paying their salaries when they are between projects. Allow the client organization to focus on its core business. Most organizations are not in business to provide information technology services, yet many have spent valuable time and resources on information technology functions when they should have focused on core competencies such as marketing, customer arrive, and new product design. By outsourcing many information technology functions, employees can focus on Jobs that are critical to the success of the organization. Access skills and technologies. Organizations can gain access to specific skills and technologies when they are required by using outside resources. For example, a project may require an expert in a particular field or require the use of expensive hardware or software for one particular month on a project. Planning for this procurement ensure that the needed skills or technology will be available for the project. Provide flexibility. Outsourcing to provide extra staff during periods of peak workloads can be much more economical than trying to staff entire projects with internal resources. Many companies cite quicker flexibility in staffing as a key reason for outsourcing. Increase accountability. A well-written contract-a mutually binding agreement that obligates the seller to provide the specified products or services and obligates the buyer to pay for them-can clarify responsibilities and sharpen focus on key deliverables of a project. Because contracts are legally binding, there is more accountability for delivering the work as stated in the contract. In December 2002, who organ Chase announced a sieving to MOM, both companies en- year, $5 billion deal too bragged that the contract w TTS med like a win-win situational would make money an gang Chase could push for innovation. The contract less than two years However, in September 200 egger fit with Comparing Chaises busting its existence because the pro news strategy. According to Austin rumination officer at Comparing Chi couture is best for the long-term gar We believe managing our own techno and success of our company as well a railroaders. However, IBM said he can contract was simply a result of Comparing Chaises merger earlier that year with Bank It tried to shrug off the loss of a large business deal. The combined firm found its an abundance of IT assets, IBM spokesperson James Icicles said. This decision w other business decisions related to the merger. 6 Outsourcing can also cause problems in other areas for companies and nations as a whole. For example, many people in Aus tralia are concerned about outsourcing software development. The Australian Computer Society says sending work offshore may lower ten under AT students entering II courses, deplete ten mummer AT Skilled IT professionals, and diminish the nations strategic technology capability. Another issue is security, which encompasses the protection of intellectual property, integrity of data, and the reliability of infrastructure in offshore locations. 7 The success of many information technology projects that use outside resources is often due to good project procurement management. Project procurement management includes the processes required to acquire goods and services for a project from outside the performing organization. Organizations can be either the buyer or the seller of products or services under a contract. There are four main processes in project procurement management: Organizations must also consider reasons they might not want to outsource. When an organization outsource work, it often does not have as much monitor over those aspects of projects that suppliers carry out. In addition, an organization could become too dependent on particular suppliers. If those suppliers went out of business or lost key personnel, it could cause great damage to a project. Organizations must also be careful to protect strategic information that could become vulnerable in the hands of suppliers. According to Scott McNealy, CEO of Sun Microsystems, Inc. , What you want to handle in-house is the stuff that gives you an edge over your competition-your core competencies. I call it your secret sauce. If youre on Wall Street and you have your own program for tracking and analyzing the market, youll hang onto that. At Sun, we have a complex program for testing microprocessor designs, and well keep it. 5 Project teams must think carefully about procurement issues and make wise decisions based on the unique needs of their projects and organizations. They can also change their minds on outsourcing as business conditions change. . 3. Planning procurements involves determining what to procure, when, and how. In procurement planning, one must decide what to outsource, determine the type of contract, and describe the work for potential sellers. Sellers are contractors, suppliers, or providers who provide goods and services to other organizations. Outputs of this process include a procurement management plan, statements of work, make-or-buy decisions, procurement documents, source selection criteria, and change requests. Conducting procurements involves obtaining seller responses, selecting sellers, and awarding contracts. Outputs include selected sellers, procurement contract awards, resource calendars, change requests, and updates to the project management plan and other project documents. Administering procurements involves managing relationships with sellers, monitoring contract performance, and malting changes as needed. The main outputs of this process Include procurement documents talon, organizational 4. Process asset updates, change requests, and project management plan updates. Closing procurements involves completion and settlement of each contract, including resolution of any open items. Outputs include closed procurements and organizational process asset updates. Figure 12-1 summarizes these processes and outputs, showing when they occur in a typical project. Planning Process: Plan procurements Outputs: Procurement management plan, procurement statements of work, make-or-buy decisions, procurement documents, source selection criteria, and change requests 466 Executing Process: Conduct procurements Outputs: Selected sellers, procurement contract award, resource calendars, change requests, project management plan updates, project document updates Monitoring and Controlling Process: Administer procurements Outputs: Procurement communication, organizational process asset updates, change requests, project management plan updates Closing Process: Close procurements Outputs: Closed procurements, organizational process asset updates Project Start Project Finish FIGURE 121 Project procurement management summary The Boots Company PLY, a Nottingham, England, outsourced its information t Tiber 2002. The Boots Company signed a ten-year d expected to save $203. 9 million over that period com systems itself. IBM managed and developed The Boots Comma cou ture from the mainframes to the tills in our 1,400 stores, to the co , said spokesperson Francis Thomas. More than 400 Boots employees we Vims payroll but continued to work at Boots head office, with extra IBM s n as needed. Thomas added, The great thing about this is that if IBM has an expert in Singapore and [if} we need that expertise, we can tap Into It Tort tender months. It Keeps our costs on an even Keel. 8 is not uncommon moon for long contracts to be renegotiated, becoming either shorter or longer in length. May 2006, Boots and IBM began discussing amendments to their contract because m of Boots IT infrastructure renewal program (including a new pharmacy system and roll) was complete. A Boots spokesman said that the many achieved its goal much quicker than planned. In contrast, in 2005 Boots renegotiated its EYE million, seven-yea IT contract it initially signed in 2002 with Sans, extending it for another two years to 2011 in a EYE million deal. 9 It is also not uncommon to take advantage of competition the changing marketplace for major procurements. In 2008, Boots announced that I have up to six different suppliers competing to supply its IT products and services ova next year. The company is keeping its business system management team and service management in-house? including helpless and project management. 10 Properly planning purchases and acquisitions and writing good contracts can also save organizations millions of dollars. Many companies centralize purchasing for products, such as personal computers, software, and printers, to earn special pricing discounts. For example, in the mid-asses the U. S. Air Force awarded a five-year, multimillion-dollar contract to automate 15 Air Force Systems Command bases. The project manager and contracting officer decided to allow for a unit pricing strategy for some items required in the contract, such as the workstations and printers. By not requiring everything to be negotiated at a fixed cost, the winning supplier lowered its final bid y more than $40 million. II Planning procurements involves identifying which project needs can best be met by using products or services outside the organization. It involves deciding whether to procure, how to procure, what to procure, how much to procure, and when to procure. An important output of this process is the make-or-buy decision. A make-or- buy decision is one in which an organization decides if it is in its best interests to make certain products or perform certain services inside the organization, or if it is better to buy them from an outside organization. If there is no need to buy any reduces or services from outside the organization, then there is no need to perform any of the other procurement management processes. For many projects, properly outsourcing some information technology functions can be a great investment, as shown in the following examples of What Went Right. Inputs needed for planning procurements include the scope baseline, requirements documentation, teaming agreements, the risk register, risk-related contract decisions, activity resource requirements, the project schedule, activity cost estimates, the cost performance baseline, enterprise environmental factors, and organizational process assets. For example, a large clothing company might consider outsourcing the delivery of, maintenance of, and basic user training and support for laptops supplied to its international sales and marketing force. If there were suppliers who could provide this service well at a reasonable price, it would make sense to outsource, because this could reduce fixed and recurring costs for the clothing company and let them focus on their core business of selling clothes. It is important to understand why a company would want to procure goods or services Ana want Inputs are anemia to plan purchases and acquisitions. In the opening case, Marries company hired outside consultants to help complete an operating system conversion project because it needed people with specialized skills for a short period of time. This is a common occurrence in many information technology projects. It can be more effective to hire skilled consultants to perform specific tasks for a short period of time than to hire or keep employees on staff full time. However, it is also important to define clearly the scope of the project, the products, services, or results required, market conditions, and constraints and assumptions. In Marries case, the scope of the reject and services required were relatively clear, but her company may not have adequately discussed or documented the market conditions or constraints and assumptions involved in using the outside consultants. Were there many companies that provided consultants to do operating conversion projects similar to theirs? Did the project team investigate the background of the company that provided the consultants? Did they list important constraints and assumptions for using the consultants, such as limiting the time that the consultants had to complete the conversion project or the minimum years of experience for any consultant assigned o the project? It is very important to answer these types of questions before going into an outsourcing agreement. Dividing both sides by $400, you get: which means that the purchase cost equals the lease cost in 30 days. So, if you need the equipment for less than 30 days, it would be more economical to lease it. If you need the equipment for more than 30 days, you should purchase it. In general, leasing is often cheaper for meeting short-term needs, but more expensive for long- term needs. Expert Judgment Tools and Techniques for Planning Procurements There are several tools and techniques to help project managers and their teams in landing procurements, including make-or-buy analysis, expert Judgment, and contract types. Make-or-Buy Analysis Make-or-buy analysis is a general management technique used to determine whether an organization should make or perform a particular product or service inside the organization or buy from someone else. This form of analysis involves estimating the internal costs of providing a product or service and comparing that estimate to the cost of outsourcing. Consider a company that has 1,000 international salespeople with laptops. Using make-or-buy analysis, the company would compare en cost AT provoking tense services using Internal resources to ten cost AT Dulling those services from an outside source. If supplier quotes were less than its internal estimates, the company should definitely consider outsourcing the training and user support services. Another common make-or-buy decision, though more complex, is whether a company should develop an application itself or purchase software from an outside source and customize it to the companys needs. Many organizations also use make-or-buy analysis to decide if they should either purchase or lease items for a particular project. For example, suppose you need a piece of equipment for a project that has a purchase price of $12,000. Assume it also had a daily operational cost of $400. Suppose you could lease the same piece of equipment for $800 per day, including the operational costs. You can set up an equation in which the purchase cost equals the lease cost to determine when it makes sense financially to lease or buy the equipment. In this example, d = the number of days you need the piece of equipment. The equation would then be: Experts inside an organization and outside an organization could provide excellent advice in planning purchases and acquisitions. Project teams often need to consult experts within their organization as part of good business practice. Internal experts might suggest that the company in the above example could not provide quality training and user support for the 1,000 laptop users since the service involves so many people with different skill levels in so many different locations. Experts in the company might also know that most of their competitors outsource this type of work and know who the qualified outside suppliers are. It is also important to consult legal experts since contracts for outsourced work are legal agreements. Experts outside the company, including potential suppliers themselves, can also provide expert judgment. For example, suppliers might suggest an option for salespeople to purchase the laptops themselves at a reduced cost. This option would solve problems during employee turnover-exiting employees would own their laptops and new employees would purchase a laptop through the program. An internal expert might then suggest that employees receive a technology bonus to help offset what they might view as an added expense. Expert Judgment, both internal and external, is an asset in making many procurement decisions. Types of Contracts $80th = $12,000 + $40th Subtracting $40th from both sides, you get: $40th = $12,000 Contract type is an important consideration. Different types of contracts can be used in different situations. Three broad categories of contracts are fixed price or lump sum, cost reimbursable, and time and material. A single contract can actually include all three of these categories, if it makes sense for that particular procurement. For example, you could have a contract with a seller that includes purchasing specific hardware for a fixed price or lump sum, some services that are provided on a cost lampshades Dados, Ana-eaten services Tanat are approver on a tale Ana material basis. Project managers and their teams must understand and decide which approaches to use to meet their particular project needs. It is also important to understand when and how you can take advantage of unit pricing in contracts. Fixed- price or lump-sum contracts involve a fixed total price for a well-defined product or service. The buyer incurs little risk in this situation since the price is predetermined. The sellers often pad their estimate somewhat to reduce their risk, realizing their rice must still be competitive. For example, a company could award a fixed-price contract to purchase 100 laser printers with a certain print resolution and print speed to be delivered to one location within two months.

Learn The Benefits Of Using A Sample Essay In Your English Class

Learn The Benefits Of Using A Sample Essay In Your English ClassA sample ESL essay is one of the most powerful tools in an English tutor's bag of tricks. It can help to get through a student's major points, as well as help you to plan the entire essay. A sample essay can often be used in the preparation process or can be utilized as a foundation for the actual work to come.There are several common mistakes that teachers and students make when it comes to writing and preparing essay. They do not consider the essay as a unit. Instead, they look at a standard essay format that does not require the student to follow a pattern or specific set of rules.This is not to say that it is easy to write an essay, it just means that the student should allow the student to write his or her own essay. This will lead to more originality and this can make the student an even better writer. This can also teach the student the boundaries of style and have them distinguish between what is appropriate for one type of essay, and what is acceptable for another.There are multiple types of essays that a student can prepare for in an English class. It depends on the type of English language used. Some professors will assign a topic essay, while others will assign multiple choice and analytical essays.Most students do not like the idea of having to write two essays, but the reality is that there is no way to assign more than two essays. The student must be able to write about the same topics that are being covered in one of the essays. If they cover different things, the student has to write something different from the other.To avoid coming across as impersonal, an essay is usually written in a colloquial style. This allows the student to be expressive in his or her feelings. It also enables the student to be creative and to use language that they normally do not use.An essay is basically a narrative. The primary task for a student is to present a part of their life and its effects. The s tudent has to explain their experiences and opinions, and how these affect the situation at hand.A student should always be sure to study before writing their essay. This will give them an opportunity to gather information and use this information as they write. The student has to know the basic facts before they can know how to write a good essay. This will help the student know exactly what they are writing about.

Input Output Storage and Speed of data

Input Output Storage and Speed of data Every company has a different way of outputting the data. There are different software programs and hardware components in today's market. One of the main factors that it is important before purchasing a new software or hardware is a budget. Higher levels of people need to determine what will work the best for the organization. Conclusion has to be made with a careful thought in order to get the right thing.The best input for printed questionnaires would be the keyboard because the questions can be prepared by typing it, so that way they can avoid unclear handwriting. These days' people are very much familiar how to use keyboards, because most of the input consists of letters and numbers. Telephone surveys would be recommended by voice recognition. The device can be programmed to determine the answers and to be completed by computers. Also a web based surveys are recommended, by having a multiple choice.English: Image of an ASUS CD-Rom Drive CD-S520/A4The advantage itself is to avoid sending letters to consumers (saving the paper). Surveys are going to be completed in more efficient way. For banking checks a scanning device that recognizes barcodes is recommended. This will save the time to the companies by having the employees manually input the check numbers, etc. By using a bar code scanner the manual input by keyboard will be avoided. Productivity is increased and user input errors will be avoided by typing it. For long documents data compressing is recommended. There are numerous programs in today's market for compressing data. It will save the space on the computer and the speed of transferring the data across the network. (Peter G. Aitken, 2005)By using a hand held computer the best output would be USB connection. Any data can be transferred to a desktop computer and then changed if needed. This way...

Criminal Justice Agency Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Criminal Justice Agency - Essay Example To their tribute, the legal structure and law enforcement agencies have not disregarded this predicament. Several courts and lawmaking organizations have, at different times, deliberated and established special measures to safeguard against eyewitness inaccuracy. The majority of States and local law enforcement agencies have recognized their own rules, practice, and instructional procedures concerning the gathering and management of eyewitness proof, several of which are reasonably excellent. The police department is on the clock enforcing the rule of law. The mandate of the police department is to make sure the evidence and testimonies in their custody is true and give the correct account of any incident that occurred and reported to the departments. Investigation on theatre is also important to verify the credibility of the witness testimonial. The scrutiny of the sites is very important since there may be other observers who saw different happening of the reported events. Therefor e, the vigilance of the police on the evidence presented on cases makes the department of police obligated on the provision of protection of the witness, verification of the information relayed and conduction of separate inquiries of the cases to gather more evidence. That is instrumental in assisting the lawmakers achieve instillation of the rule of law to both the offender and the offended. Crime control and crime prevention Crime is a phenomenon that occurs when the profits overweigh losses. The fact that the trend of crime occurs when one finds it plausible for them to have their personal reasons outweigh their morals creates crime in its essence. Crime is a rational choice that many people decide to take and act upon their choice. The modern strategy predicament for a law enforcement agency rests among crime control and crime prevention. Specifically, what methods to use are more functional to trim down crime and alleviate public safety becomes the hard question for the agency. These topics attempts to help law enforcement agencies to make such decisions. The purpose of the topics is to evaluate and evaluate the effectiveness of crime control and crime prevention programs. It adds to criminal justice application by representation of the policy repercussion concerning the competence of these programs (Hughes, 1998). Before implementation of any crime reduction program one needs to first inquire whether the realization of each of these crime reduction programs is either proficient or inefficient. Although recently deliberation on impartiality, responsiveness, and crime control, effectiveness is still an essential thought in guiding both educational study and administration practice. The center on competence adds data on efficiency and value of performance in criminal justice programs (Cowell, & Stenson, 1991). This is due to the concept of effectiveness evaluates the link between program yield and program finances. Criminal justice program assessments focus mostly on value. On the other hand, the use of these control measure also strike questions on their proficiency in crime control. The best deliberation is a comparative knowledge on the control measures the law enforcement needs to incorporate. Crime prevention is a mandate the police department is aware if but it becomes a collective task since the department cannot function singly. The community the police is protecting needs to come up with measures to assist the police give more

Business Resources Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Business Resources - Essay Example The mere presence of resources in a business is not sufficient to ensure that the business is successful. The resources of a business should be employed in an intelligent and strategic manner to ensure its success. The human resources of a business include the personnel and employees working in the company. The human resources also include the management expertise and skills resources. The human resources are considered to be the most critical resources of a business in the modern business world. The effectiveness of the human resources of a business can be gauged with the help of the skill base achieved in the business. The skills possessed in a business and the ability to use the skills to meet the changing dynamics and requirements of the business are important factors that should be considered for evaluating the human resources of the business. The audit of the human resources should be conducted periodically to ensure that the assessment of the human resources available to the business is done fairly and to find out the emerging needs of the business regarding human resource management. Some relevant factors that can be used to audit the human resources are the identification of resources of staffing like the number of employees by function, the remuneration, qualification, location, experience, and grades of the employees. The assessment of key intangibles like business culture and morale are other factors which can be used to represent the effectiveness of human resources present in a business. The physical resources of a business include a number of operational resources that can be used for the delivery of specific strategies using physical capabilities. The physical resources of a business may be of many types and can vary according to the nature and scale of the business. The production facilities like capacity, production processes, maintenance and investment requirements, quality and organization are important factors which decide the effectiveness of physical resources in an organization.

Education vs. Non-Education Essay Example for Free

Education vs. Non-Education Essay There are two important stories called, Front Seat Brahman and Teachers of Import that have a common conflict. That common conflict is education vs. non-education. The character in Front Seat Brahman is Sushil Rao. He is from Bombay, India. The characters in The Teachers of Import are Amarel Collymore and Elke Walcher. Amarel is from Bridgetown, Barbados and Elke is from Austria. They all moved to Queens, New York for a particular reason. Sushil did not mention whether or not he went to elementary or high school. However, from the story it sounds like he took school lightly compared to Amarel and Elke. Sushil states, I went away to agriculture college to learn how to be a farmer, but they made me dissect frogs in a botany class so I quite. So I enrolled in a philosophy college. A year later, my father died and I was kind of out of control. I quite college and became a traveling hippie (Lehrer/ Sloan, 32). This proves that he did try to go to college, but was not dedicated enough to finish college. He thought there were better opportunities and prospects out in the world than just going to college. That was not the case for Amarel and Elke. Amarel was a college graduate and taught high school English. She had decades of teaching experience and decided to come to New York. Elke was also a college graduate and taught science. Both teachers came to teach in New York because there was a shortage of teachers and the New York City Board of Education was looking to recruit teachers from different countries. Amarel was not used to the students behavior the first week of classes. She states, In Barbados, if a student acts up, they get put out the door right away. When I first started teaching here I thought the kids were raging all the time. Then I figured out its just normal for them to curse and swear (Lehrer/ Sloan, 55). This shows the differences between the way students act in Barbados vs. America. I think American students, depending on the school though; have very low respect for their teachers compared to certain countries. Elke had a different experience. She said, Its a prejudice Europeans have against blacks anyways. The movies give the impression that all blacks are criminals and they all live in the Bronx. I couldnt believe the class was half black. Most of the guys are wearing gang jackets and bandanas (Lehrer/ Sloan, 59). This proves that Elke was in for a big surprise and they were not like the Austrian students that she was used to. Sushil was more of a spiritual person rather than educational. For example Sushil says, You can live without food for days at a time. But water you need almost every four hours. Water is like diamonds. Our life depends on it (Lehrer/ Sloan, 36)! People know they cannot live without water, but I have never heard anyone phrase is quite like that. This shows that Sushil is such a deep and meaningful man. Sushil has such a great view of life and appreciates it so much more than the average American. The two teachers and Sushil make the education vs. non-education conflict have some similarities and differences. The two teachers take such great pride in their work as teachers. Just as Sushil takes pride in sharing his stories with people, cooking and his publishing company. He did not need college to succeed like Amarel and Elke, but the women definitely make education a big part of their lives. These are just two different views these people have. In a way, Sushil was teaching the people in the cabs about his country and his beliefs, just as the two teachers teacher their students. Sushil does not mention how education is portrayed in India, but according to Amarel and Elke teachers are very well respected and getting an education is very highly though of. The two teachers were not sure they wanted to stay in New York or go back home and teach. In the end, they did both want to stay. Amarel concludes with, Ive gotten accustomed to these kids. The Lord brought me here for something. I am not yet sure what it is. I know now if I hate to, I could teach anywhere. But Id like to teach here again next year if I can (Lehrer/ Sloan, 57). Elke concludes with, Teaching is a calling. If you do it just for the money you wont last. Especially in New York. Some of the teachers look at me like Im nuts whenever I talk with great enthusiasm for teaching (Lehrer/ Sloan, 61). This show that both teachers are now getting used to the idea that they can help these students and teach them to respect teachers more. They both succeeded in the end. Sushil also succeeded even though he did not go to college and education was not a part of his life. He was starting to make dinners for his friend and all his friends. Then Sushil and his friend started up a publishing company together. That proved he did not need a professional education. He was poetic and creative and that made him a success.

The Power of Dillards A Field of Silence Essay -- Field of Silence Es

The Power of Dillard's A Field of Silence    In her essay, Annie Dillard wrote: "There was only silence. It was the silence of matter caught in the act and embarrassed. There were no cells moving, and yet there were cells. I could see the shape of the land, how it lay holding silence"(396)1. The story in which she talked about the silence of the land was published in 1982, and today, almost two decades having gone by, A Field of Silence, is still able to relate to its readers.    A Field of Silence is a story about one of Dillard's religious experiences. It may be considered boring and confusing to most people, but I found it to be quite interesting. I have to admit though, I found the story a bit boring the first time that I read it, but after reading it over a couple of times, I was able to understand what Dillard was trying to accomplish. She used a story telling technique to grab the reader's attention and then at the end she gave her own impression of what she thought about her experience. If Dillard just came right out and said what she believed was a valuable piece of information for everyone to know, this essay would not have survived as long as it has out there in the real world. Most people are not interested in being told the facts right away; they want to think about what it is that the author is trying to tell them. Although some people may complain that they are confused and that the article is boring (I know I did at first), most people will ag ree that they would try to figure out what the author is saying. For that reason, Dillard does an excellent job with A Field of Silence.    I believe that there is an advantage to reading an essay about a religious experience from another time period for ... ...h them. Most people, including myself, remember sayings a whole lot easier if there is a story behind it that we can fall back on or relate to, and that is exactly what Dillard did in A Field of Silence.    Whether people find this article boring or interesting most people would agree with me that Dillard knows how to relate to her readers. She knows how to grab the audience, drag them through her entire story, and leave them hanging wondering what it was that she was actually trying to tell them. No wonder I do not find it amazing that almost two decades later, people can still relate to Dillard's experience.    Work Cited: 1 Anderson, Chris and Lex Runciman. (1995). A field of Silence. In A Forest of Voices: Reading and Writing the Enviroment (pp.395- 399). Calafornia: Mayfield Publishing Co. Hereafter, all quotes will be taken from this source.